Trip to Rhodie

I wish Rhode Island was closer than a 2 hour plane trip away.  I love spending time with my extended family (most of my mom and dad's families live there) and there's a lot to do (and eat!).  Our most recent trip to Rhode Island was scheduled to celebrate my cousin's wedding in June.  We decided to make a family vacation out of the trip.  It was nice to be able to spend time with family to celebrate something fun (rather than a funeral).  We stayed in the same hotel as my parents and we were only 10 minutes away from my Auntie Donna's house.  Here's a rundown of everything we did!

The day after we arrived, we started the day off at Borelli's Pastry Shop.  My mom had the idea to pick up some spinach pies, strip pizza, and pastries and surprise my grandpa.  He knew we were going to be in town, but we hadn't made concrete plans yet.

Luckily my grandpa was home, so we got to spend some time with him!  He was meeting up with some friends to golf that afternoon (yup, at 90 years old!) so our trip was cut a little short, but it was nice to be able to see him (and especially nice for him to see the kids!).

Their favorite - back rubs by grandma😍

After my grandpa left to golf, we headed over to my Auntie Donna's house.  Family from out of town (Georgia) was there as well.  It was so nice to just hang out and visit with everyone!

Duke (the dog) has been in the front yard since my grandparents owned the house.  He used to be a Dalmatian, but my aunt painted him black.  I'm not sure if his name has changed.  We have several pictures sitting on him when I was a kid, so this was fun!

Being silly - Cadence wanted to act like she was taking a selfie

The next day we made our way to Newport - we absolutely love it there!  We started off at the Cliff Walk.  The weather was perfect for the hike - it wasn't too warm and the sky was still overcast.

At this spot, you could get wet by the waves crashing onto the shore!

Cadence wanted to find sea shells so badly, but the sand only had a bunch of rocks!

This part was a little intimidating, but the kids did great!

Mom snapped a couple of really cute pics of the kids.

We took a break once we reached the end - it was starting to get warm out!

Another thing we like to do in Newport is just walk around and visit the local shops.  

MMMMM Del's

We FINALLY found the restaurant that we loved the last time we visited Newport (when Cadence was only 2 years old), but they weren't open yet.  We were hungry, so we made a pit stop at another restaurant for some drinks and appetizers (Benjamin's).  They were yummy! 

When we got to the restaurant we initially wanted to go to (The Port), we had to recreate the photo from 2012!  It was funny because I had the same hat on!

Can't forget about Colin!

It had gotten considerably cooler outside - we had to buy a sweatshirt for Colin.

A couple of guys were offering rickshaw rides

We met a "pirate" along the way...

He had just finished up a gig and walked with us to his next destination!

We all met up at my Auntie Donna's house again to visit with everyone.  Cadence got everyone to play Monopoly Deal!

The kids loved spending time with Auntie Donna.  My mom got this cute pic.

The morning of the wedding, we checked out the little beach at the lake in my aunt's neighborhood.  We used to go here with my grandparents when we were little.  I can still remember making mud pies for my Pepé.  We had a nice picnic lunch and the kids even played in the water.  It was chilly!

We had leftover cupcakes from the batch mom & dad had delivered to our hotel room as a surprise for Cadence's birthday. 😀

The wedding ceremony and reception were at Harbor Lights Marina/Golf Club.  It was a beautiful setting for a wedding and the weather was absolutely perfect.  

The ceremony was outside

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. DiRocco!

During cocktail hour, dad chipped some golf balls with the kids!

Uncle Lou!

All of the cousins on the DeNomme side - Missing Mike!

Colin had been complaining that his throat hurt, and he woke up with a fever, so Danny took him to urgent care the next morning.  He had a confirmed case of strep!  While Colin stayed quarantined at the hotel and got some much needed rest (and Danny got some work done), I took Cadence back to Auntie Donna's house.  Our Georgia family members were heading home, so it was nice to see them one last time.  Cadence even convinced cousin Dave to swim!

We had to postpone our trip to the beach by a day since Colin wasn't feeling well.  We spent the next morning at Scarborough Beach.  As we made our way to the beach, we watched the temperature fall (on the dash in the car) - It was only in the mid-60s once we got to the beach!  It was a chilly day - good thing it was sunny!  Even though it was too cold to really get in the water, we had a nice day.  The kids can now say they've been to a 'real' beach!

Before we headed to my grandpa's house to spend time with him and my dad's family, we stopped by a local seafood joint (Iggy's) and ate waaaaay too much fried food!  Boy was it good, though! Chowder, clam cakes, clam roll, onion rings, doughboys, oh my! 

Auntie Dolores was there!

Playing cornhole with Great-Grandpa!

Uncle Wayne pitching to Colin

My dad's dad, sister, and cousins

We PROMISED we'd visit the hotel pool before we left, so that's what we did!  We had some time to kill before heading to the airport.  The kids had the entire pool and hot tub to themselves!

The pilots let us check out the cockpit on the first flight back home!  Thanks Southwest!

Sending my mom a pic on our second flight home.

My brother and girlfriend helped us out and offered to watch Scarlet for us while we were gone.  She had a good time with her new buddy, Lucy!  Thanks, Mike and Gina!

Our Eldest is 9 Years Old!

It's hard to believe that we have a child that is 9 years old. That's almost an entire decade!  She's blossoming into quite the young lady.  She's more into wearing athleisure-type clothing nowadays, but was also excited to pick out a dress to wear to my cousin's wedding.  She's still super stubborn and isn't a fan of change (or trying new things), but she's uber creative and oh-so-smart.  She can create almost anything out of a cardboard box (her box of choice is an old tissue box) and can memorize the lyrics of a song or the steps to a cheer in no time flat.  Oh, and just try to beat this kid in a game of chess.  She knows what she likes and likes those things passionately.  It's scary to think that in another 9 years, we'll have a legal adult on our hands.  I'm going to soak up all that I can until that day comes.  I hope that when she is an adult, she'll still want to hang out with her mama.

This birthday was special because we were flying to Rhode Island for my cousin's wedding.  Cadence hadn't been on a plane since she was 1 year old (this was Colin's first flight).  The morning of our trip, while the boys were still sleeping, the girls stopped by Tim Hortons for some birthday doughnuts.  Cadence's current favorite doughnut is the double chocolate.  She wanted to eat one there and save one for later, so that's what we did.

She wanted them all for herself.

After we got ready for the day, I made her pose for some birthday pictures.

The kids were nervous about flying (and we knew they would be) - so we reached out to Southwest prior to our flight to let them know we'd have some first time flyers (and a birthday girl) on board.  At the gate, they were given a bunch of Southwest swag (certificate, sunglasses, and a cardboard airplane craft).  It was really nice of them to do that.  Colin was nervous (and in a funk because his airplane craft ripped) while waiting for the plane, so he wasn't cooperating for a photo op at the time.

We eventually got 2 smiling kids...

That also like to dab.

All ready for takeoff!

All day (and especially on the flight), Colin was complaining of a stomach ache (on and off).  I chalked it up to nerves, but after both flights to Rhode Island and we finally made it to the hotel, Colin got sick!  He also came down with strep throat a few days later, so he was not feeling so well!

As we boarded the flight, a flight attendant asked if my kids were Cadence and Colin (they knew from the e-mail I had sent).  Halfway through the flight, they came over the intercom and asked all the people on board to close their blinds and turn on their attendant light.  They announced that it was Cadence's birthday.  Everyone sang, "Happy Birthday" to her and then she "blew out the candles" as everyone turned off their attendant light.  It was the sweetest thing and brought tears to my eyes.  It was really special.  We stayed on that same flight for a connection in DC and as other passengers were deplaning, several of them wished Cadence a Happy Birthday.  

The kids handled the first flight really well (which made all subsequent flights that much easier).  They were stoked to be in a new state!

Oh, and one of the flight attendants made Cadence a birthday crown out of coffee stir sticks and packs of pretzels.  How cool is that?!  This flight crew really went above and beyond.  I was sure to send them a nice note after our trip!